itiiJ5Sf|#SUli;;: 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0DDD174h'=]fl4 









to^ 














^ •'•• «^^ c 












iP-^-i 




>6^ 








H 







iP^^ 



^ ^ **/i* ,<y^ O ♦•To' -0*^ 













5i . 

^ o 



*..^*' 






\ 












-^-^ 













s^"^^. * 



4\" 



PLATFORM 



OF THE 



Imcrkmt §^ltt^<SIakr2 Smt^ 



AND ITS AUXILIARIES. 



•^ ♦ »- 



tbi ff^rli: 



vw; 



PUBLISHED BY THE Nr-¥; ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 

1853. 



n^ 



.AOi^ ■<' 



'i}'^ 

' V 



TO THE READER. 

The principles, purposes, and measures of the American Anti-Slavery 
Society and its auxiliaries having been extensively misunderstood, and 
quite as extensively misrepresented, its friends would respectfully submit 
to the candid perusal of the public its Constitution^ the Declaration 
of Sentiments adopted at its formation, aad an Exposition of its Plat- 
form, by William Lloyd Garrison, its President. By these docu-" 
ments, and by its official acts, not by the opinions and acts of indi- 
viduals upon other subjects, wholly foreign to the object for which 
it was organized and to which its efforts have ever been scrupulously 
devoted, the Society asks to be judged. Inviting the co-operation of 
every lover of human freedom, of whatever sect, party, or sex, in the 
one great work of abolishing Slavery, it interrogates no person as to 
his or her views of Theology, or of any other foreign topic whatever; 
it knows neither Catholic nor Protestant, Orthodox nor Heterodox, Male 
nor Female, but addresses itself to every human being, and seeks to kin- 
dle the fire of Anti-Slavery in every human heart. The documents here- 
with submitted will, it is believed, be deemed a sufficient answer to those 
who are attempting to destroy its influence by falsely representing it to 
be a "Jacobinic" and " infidel " association. 



SOCIETIES AND NEWSPAPERS. 

Office of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 142 Naasau street, New York, 
■where is published weekly the Ifational Anti-Sla/very Standard, its official organ ; 
S. H. Gay and Oliver Johnson, Editors; Edmund Quinct, Corresponding Editor. 
Terms, $2 per annum. 

Office of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 21 CorDhill, Boston. Samuel 
Mav, eTr., General Agent. At this office is published The Liberator, edited by 
William Lloyd Garrison. This paper is not officially connected with any Anti- 
Slavery Society, but is an independent journal, devoted mainly to the abolition of 
Slavery, but discussing, pro and con, to a limited extent, other important subjects. 
Ternis^ $2.50 per annum. 

Office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, 31 North Fifth street. Philadel- 
phia. J. Miller McKim, Corresponding Secretary and General Agent. The Penn- 
sylvania Freeman is the organ of the Society. Cyrus M. Burleigh, Editor. 
Terms, $2 per annum. 

The Western Anti-Slavery Society has its seat of operations at Salem, Columbi- 
ana county, Ohio. Its organ is The Anti-Slavery Bugle, edited by Maeius E. 
EociNSox. Terms, $1.50 per annum. 



^ 

V 

^ 



CONSTITUTION 

f— OF THK 



^mnirait ^iiti-^laSjfrt „Snti£tt. 



Formed in PliiladelpJiia, Decemler Uh, 1833. 



Whereas, the Most Higli God "hath made of one blood 
all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and 
hath commanded them to love their neighbours as themselves; 
and whereas, our National Existence is based upon this prin- 
ciple, as recognised in the Declaration of Independence, " that 
all mankind are created equal, and that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" and whereas, after 
the lapse of nearly sixty years, since the faith and honour of 
the American people were pledged to this avowal, before 
Almighty God and the World, nearly one-sixth part of the 
nation are held in bondage by their fellow-citizens; and 
whereas. Slavery is contrary to the principles of natural justice, 
of our republican form of government, and of the Christian 
religion, and is destructive of the prosperity of the country, 
while it is endangering the peace, union, and liberties of the 
States; and whereas, we believe it the duty and interest of 
the masters immediately to emancipate their slaves, and that 
no scheme of expatriation, either voluntary or by compulsion, 
can remove this great and increasing evil; and whereas, we 
believe that it is practicable, by appeals to the consciences, 
hearts, and interests of the people, to awaken a public senti- 
ment throughout the nation that will be opposed to the con- 
tinuance of Slavery in any part of the republic, and by effect- 
ing the speedy abolition of Slavery, prevent a general con- 
vulsion; and whereas, we beheve we owe it to the oppressed, 



(4) 

to our fellow-citizens who hold slaves, to our whole country, 
to posterity, and to God, to do all that is lawfully in our 
power to bring about the extinction of Slavery, we do hereby 
agree, with a prayerful reliance on the Divine aid, to form 
ourselves into a Society, to be governed by the following 
Constitution : 

Article I, — This Society shall be called the American 
A^'T^SLAVERY Society. 

Article II. — The objects of this Society are the entire 
abolition of Slavery in the United States. While it admits 
that each State, in which Slavery exists, has, by the Consti- 
tution of the United States, the exclusive right to legislate 
in regard to its abolition in said State, it shall aim to con- 
vince all our fellow-citizens, by arguments addressed to their 
understandings and consciences, that Slaveholding is a 
heinous crime in the sight of God, and that the duty, safety, 
and best interests of all concerned, require its immediate 
abandonment, without expatriation. The Society will also 
endeavour, in a constitutional way, to influence Congress to 
put an end to the domestic- Slave trade, and to abolish 
Slavery in all those portions of our common country, which 
come under its control, especially in the District of Colum- 
bia, — and likewise to prevent the extension of it to any 
State that may be hereafter admitted to the Union. 

Article III. — This Society shall aim to elevate the char- 
acter and condition of the people of colour, by encouraging 
their intellectual, moral, and religious improvement, and by 
removing public prejudice, that thus they may, according to 
their intellectual and moral worth, share an equality with 
the whites, of civil and religious privileges ; but this Society 
will never, in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindi- 
cating their rights by resorting to physical force. 

Article IY. — Any person who consents to the principles 
of this Constitution, who contributes to the funds of this 
Society, and is not a Slaveholder, may be a member of this 
Society, and shall be entitled to vote at the meetings. 

Article Y. — Tlie Officers of this Society shall be a 
President, Yice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, Corres- 
ponding Secretaries, a Treasurer, and an Executive Com- 
mittee of not less than five nor more than twelve members. 



(5) 

Article YI. — The Executive Committee shall have power 
to enact their own by-laws, fill any vacancy in their body, 
and in the offices of Secretary and Treasurer, employ agents, 
determine what compensation shall be paid to agents, and 
to the Corresponding Secretaries, direct the Treasurer in the 
application of all moneys, and call special meetings of the 
Society. They shall make arrangements for all meetings of 
the Society, make an annual written report of then' doings, 
the expenditures, and funds of the Society, and shall hold 
stated meetings, and adopt the most energetic measures in 
their power to advance the objects of the Society. They 
may, if they shall see fit, appoint a Board of Assistant 
Managers, composed of not less than three nor^ more^than 
seven persons residing in New York City or its vicinity, 
whose duty it shall be to render such assistance to the Com- 
mittee in conducting the affairs of the Society as the exigen- 
cies of the cause may requii-e. To this Board they may from 
time to time confide such of their own powers as they may 
deem necessary to the efiicient conduct of the Society's 
business. The Board shall keep a record of its proceedings, 
and furnish a copy of the same for the information of the 
Committee, as often as may be required. 

Article YII. — The President shall preside at all naeet- 
ings of the Society, or, in his absence, one of the Yice- 
Presidents, or, in their absence, a President pro tem. The 
Corresponding Secretaries shall conduct the correspondence 
of the Society. The Recording Secretary shall notify all 
meetings of the Society, and of the Executive Committee, 
and shall keep records "of the same in separate books. The 
Treasurer shall collect the subscriptions, make payments at 
the direction of the Executive Committee, and present a 
written and audited account to accompany the aimual 
report. 

Article YIII.— The Annual Meeting of the Society 
shall be held each year at such time and place as the Ex- 
ecutive Committee may direct, when the accounts of the 
Treasurer shall be presented, the annual report read, appro- 
priate addresses delivered, the Officers chosen, and such other 
business transacted as shall be deemed expedient. 

Article IX.— Any Anti-Slavery Society or Association, 
founded on the same principles, mav become auxihary to this 



(6) 

Society. The officers of each Auxiliary Society shall be ex 
officio members of the Parent Institution, and shall be 
entitled to deliberate and vote in the transactions of its 
concerns. 

Article X.— This Constitution may be amended, at any 
annual meeting of the Society, by a vote of two-thirds of 
the members present, provided the amendments proposed 
have been previously submitted, in writmg, to the Executive 
Committee. 



OFFICERS FOR 1853-4. 

JPTcsid&nt ' 
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISOI^, of Massachusetts. 

Vice-Presidents : 
Peter Libeet Maine ; BEN-jAiin>r Comings, Lotheb 
Melendv l\ew Hampshire; Patten Datis, Vermont- 
^RANcis Jackson Edmcnd Qdincv, William I. Bowditch' 
Massachusetts ; Asa Fairbanks, Rhode Island ; James 
i! Whitcomb, Connecticut; Samuel J. May Thomas 
M'Clintock, Isaac Post, Flint Sexton, Ne; Yorl 
Robert Purvis Edward M. Davis, Thomas Whitson' 
Pennsylvania; George Atkinson, New Jersey; Thomas 
Garrett, Delaware; Thomas Donaldson, Asl Dms 

PUCI.ETT, Indiana; Joseph Merritt, Thomas Chandler 
Califo;ni« ' ^^'°"«s°t'' ; Georgiana B. Kirby; 



Corresponding Secretaries : 
Edmund Quincy and Sydney H. Gay. 

Becording Secretary: 
Wendell Phillips. 

Treasurer : 
Francis Jackson. 



(7) 

Executive Committee: 
William Lloyd Garrison, Francis Jackson, Edmund 
QuiNCY, Maria Weston Chapman, Wendell Phillips, 
Anne Warren Weston, Sydney Howard Gay, I^liza 
Lee Follen, James Russell Lowell, Charles F. Hovey, 
Samuel May, Jun., William I. Bowditch. 



•» »» 



getliiratiaii d SMimeute 

OP THE 

AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 



ADOPTED AT THE FOEMATIOIT OF SAID 8O0TETY, IN PHILADELPHIA, ON THE 4tH 
DAY OF DEGEMBEK, 1833. 



The Convention, assembled in the City of Philadelphia to 
organize a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the 
opportunity to promulgate the following DECLARATION 
OF SENTIMENTS, as cherished by them in relation to the 
enslavement of one-sixth portion of the American people. 

More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of 
patriots convened in this place to devise measures for the 
deliverance of this country from a foreign yoke. The corner- 
stone upon which they founded the Temple of Freedom was 
broadly this — •" that all men are created equal ; and they are 
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; 
that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of 
happiness." At the sound of their trumpet-call, three mil- 
lions of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed 
to the strife of blood ; deeming it more glorious to die in- 
stantly as freemen, than desirable to live one hour as slaves. 
They were few in number — poor in resources ; but the honest 
conviction that Truth, Justice, and Right were on their 
side, made them invincible. 

We have met together for the achievement of an enter- 
prise, without which that of our fathers is incomplete ; and 
which, for its magnitude, solemnity, and probable results 
upon the destiny of the world, as far transcends theirs as 
moral truth does physical force. 



( 8 ) 

In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of 
purpose, in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in 
sincerity of spirit, we would not be inferior to them. 

Their principles led them to wa^^e war against their 
oppressors, and to spill human blood like water in order to 
be free. Ours forbid the doing of evil that good may come, 
and lead us to reject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject^ 
the use of all carnal weapons for deliverance from bondage ; 
relying solely upon those which are spiritual and mighty 
through God to the pulling down of strongholds. 

Their measures were physical resistance— the marshalling 
in arms— the hostile array — the mortal encounter. Ours- 
shall be such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral 
corruption^the destruction of error by the potency of truth 
— the overthrow of prejudice by the power of love — and the 
abolition of slavery by the spirit of repentance. 

Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in 
comparison with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom 
we plead. Our fathers were never slaves— never bought and 
sold like cattle — never shut out from the light of knowledge 
and religion— never subjected to the lash of brutal task- 
masters. 

^ But those for whose emancipation we are striving — con- 
stituting, at the present time, at least one-sixth part°of our 
countrymen— are recognised by the law, and treated by their 
fellow-beings as marketable commodities, as goods and chat- 
tels, as brute beasts ; are plundered daily of the fruits of 
their toil without redress — really enjoying no constitutional 
nor legal protection from licentious and murderous outrages 
upon their persons ; are ruthlessly torn asunder— the tender 
babe from the arms of its frantic mother — the heart-broken 
wife from her weeping husband— at the caprice or pleasure 
of irresponsible t}Tants. For the crime of having a dark 
complexion, they suffer the pangs of hunger, the infliction of 
stripes, and the ignominy of "brutal servitude. They are 
kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly enacted to 
make their instruction a criminal offence. 

These are the prominent circumstances in the condition 
of more than two millions of our people, the proof of which 
may be found in thousands of indisputable facts, and in the 
laws of the slaveholding States. 

^ Hence we maintain, that in view of the civil and religious 
privileges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is un- 



(9> 

equalled by any other on the face of the earth ; and, there- 
fore, 

That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy 
burdens, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go 
free. 

We further maintain — that no man has a right to enslave 
or imbrute his brother— to hold or acknowledge him, for one 
moment, as a piece of merchandize — to keep back his hire by 
fraud— or to brutalize his mind by denying him the means of 
intellectual, social, and moral improvement. 

The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is 
to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right 
to his own body— to the products of his own labour— to the 
protection of law, and to the common advantages of society. 
It is piracy to buy or steal a native African, and subject him 
to servitude. Surely the sin is as great to enslave an Ameri- 
CAX as an African. 

Therefore we believe and affirm— That there is no diifer- 
ence, in 2^ri?icqyle, between the African slave-trade and 
American slavery. 

That every American citizen who retains a human being 
in involuntary bondage as his property, is, accordino- to 
Scripture, (Ex. xxi. 16) a man-stealer. 

That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brouo-ht 
under the protection of law. ° 

That if they lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the 
present period, and had been entailed throu^i successive 
generations, their right to be free could never have been 
alienated, but their claims vfould have constantly risen in 
solemnity. 

That all those laws which are now in force, admittino- the 
right of slavery, are therefore before God utterly nulf and 
void ; being an audacious usurpation of the Divine preroga- 
tive, a daring infringement on the law of nature, a base 
overthrow of the very foundations of the social compact a 
complete extinction of aU the relations, endearments, and 
obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression of 
all the holy commandments; and that, therefore, they ought 
instantly to be abrogated. 

We further believe and affirm— Tliat all persons of colour 
who possess the qualifications which are demanded of others 
ought to be admitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same 
privileges, and the exercise of the same prerogatives as 



(10) 

others; and that the paths of preferment, of wealth, and of 
intelligence, should be opened as widely to them as to persons 
of a white complexion. 

We maintain that no compensation should be given to the 
planters emancipating the slaves — 

Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental 
principle that man cannot hold property in man ; 

Because slavery is a crime, and therefore is not an 

ARTICLE TO BE SOLD; 

Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors 
of what they claim ; freeing the slaves is not depriving them 
of property, but restoring it to its rightful owners ; it is not 
wrongmg the master, but righting the slave— restoring him 
to himself ; 

Because immediate and general emancipation would only 
destroy nominal, not real property; it would not amputate a 
limb or break a bone of the slaves ; but, by infusing motives 
into their breasts, would make them doubly valuable to the 
masters as free labourers ; and 

Because, if compensation is to be given at all, it should 
be given to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those 
who have plundered and abused them. 

We regard as delusive, cruel, and dangerous, any scheme 
of expatriation which pretends to aid, either directly or indi- 
rectly, in the emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute 
for the immediate and total abolition of slavery. 

We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of 
each State to legislate exclusively on the subject of the "slavery 
which is tolerated within its limits ; we concede that Con- 
gress, under the 2)resent national compact, has no right to 
interfere with any of the slave States in relation to this 
momentous subject. 

But we maintain that Congress has a riglit, and is so- 
lemnly bound, to suppress the domestic slave-trade between 
the several States, and to abolish slavery in those portions 
of our territory which the Constitution has placed under its 
exclusive jurisdiction. 

We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the 
highest obligations resting upon the people of the free States 
to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed 
in the Constitution of the United States. They are now 
living under a pledge of their tremendous physical force, to 
fasten the galling fetters of tyranny upon the limbs of millions 



(11) 

in the Southern States ; they are liable to be called at any 
moment to suppress a general insurrection of the slaves ; 
they authorize the slave-owner to vote on three-fifths of his 
slaves as property, and thus enable him to perpetuate his 
oppression ; they support a standing army at the South for 
its protection ; and they seize the slave who has escaped into 
their territories, and send him back to be tortured by an 
enraged master or a brutal driver. This relation to slavery 
is criminal and full of danger : it must be broken up. 

These are our views and principles — these our designs 
and measures. With entire confidence in the overrulins: 
justice of God, we plant ourselves upon the Declaration of 
our Independence and the truths of Divine revelation as upon 
the Everlasting Rock. 

We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in 
every city, town, and village in our land. 

We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remon- 
strance, of warning, of entreaty, and reljuke. 

We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, anti- 
slavery tracts and periodicals. 

We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of 
the suffering and the dumb. 

We shall aim at a i)urification of the churches from all 
participation in the guilt of slavery. 

We shall encourage the labour of freemen rather than 
that of slaves, by giving a preference to their productions ; 
and 

We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the whole 
nation to speedy repentance. 

Our trust for victory is solely in God. We may be per- 
sonally defeated, mt our principles, never. Truth, Justice, 
Reason, Humanity, must and will gloriously triumph. Al- 
ready a host is coming up to the help of the Lord against 
the mighty, and the prospect before us is full of encourage- 
ment. 

Submitting this DECLARATION to the candid examin- 
ation of the people of this country, and of the friends of 
liberty throughout the world, we hereby affix our signatures 
to it ; pledging ourselves that, under the guidance and by 
the help of Almighty God, we will do all that in us lies, con- 
sistently with this Declaration of our-principles, to overtlirow 
the most execrable system of slavery that has ever been 
witnessed upon earth — to deliver our land from its deadliest 



(12) 

curse — to wipe out the foulest stain which rests upon our 
national escutcheon— and to secure to the coloured popula- 
tion of the United States all the rights and privileges which 
belong to them as men and as Aniericans— come what may 
to our persons, our interests, or our reputation— whether we 
Hve to witness the triumph of liberty, justice, and humanity, 
or perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and 
holy cause. 

Done at Philadelphia, the 6th day of December ad 
1833. ' ■ ■ 



EXPOSITIOI^ OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY PLATFORM. 

Speech of William Lloyd Garrison, President of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society, at the Xew-England Anti-Slavery Coii- 
vention, in Boston, May, 1853. 

PHONOGEAPmCALI.Y REPOKTED BY J. M. W. YEEEINTON. 

Mr. President,— I rise to submit to the Convention the 
following Resolutions, which seem to me specially called for 
at the present time, when so much misapprehension exists, on 
both sides of the Atlantic, as to the true character and real 
position of the American Anti-Slavery Society : 

''1. Resolved, That inasmuch as the condition of member- 
ship in the American Anti-Slavery Society is simply the 
recognition of the self-evident truth, that no man can' hold 
property in man, that immediate emmancipation is the rio-ht 
of the slave and the duty of the master ; as that Society 
neither disciplines nor excommunicates any member on any 
charge of ncting inconsistently with his anti|lavery profession • 
as Its platform is as open to its opponents as to its friends'" 
and free to all; and as the great instrumentality for the peace- 
ful abolition of slavery is the utterance and application of the 
truth to the consciences and hearts of the people • it follows 
that so long as the Society is true to its fundamental princi- 
ples, it furnishes common ground for all those who claim to be 
anxious for the overthrow of the slave system, and secession 
from it IS an indication of a factious spirit, or of conscious un- 
willingness or inability to meet the responsibilities of the cause 
and the duties of the hour. 

" 2. Resolved, That no man, who consents to stand on the 
anti-slavcry platform,— or standing where he may, no man 



( 13 ) 

who professes to be the friend and advocate of the slave, espec- 
ially if he occupy a high, responsible station, — has a right to 
claim exemption from anti-slavery criticism, or to construe it 
into a personal affront, or to plead his unquestionable and un- 
questioned anti-slavery acts as entitling him to go uurebuked 
in cases where he is regarded as found wanting. 

" 3. Resolved, That it is not only the right but the duty of 
the professed friends of the slave to be watchful and jealous, 
lest there be any compromise of his rights, and to admonish 
each other whenever or wherever there seems to be a derelic- 
tion from the strict line of anti-slavery principle; and whoever 
takes offence at this, or withdraws himself from our platform 
in consequence thereof, shows himself to be consciously in the 
wrong, and unable to vindicate his position.'' 

These Resolutions are so comprehensively expressed as to 
render it unnecessary for me to occupy any considerable por- 
tion of the time of the Convention in their elucidation. 

Sir, for what are we assembled at this Anniversary ? It 
is to bear anew our testimony against chattel slavery in our 
land. That sin is so palpable, that crime is so enormous, that 
no man can honestly doubt in regard to its real nature ; for 
God never yet made a human being who felt in his soul that 
he ought to be a slave; and, therefore, the universal heart of 
our common humanity, in all ages, in all climes, has rejected 
the idea, that man can be made the property of man. 

Well, then, we are all opposed to slavery — so we say ; we 
all desire its abolition — such is our profession. But how shall 
we the most effectively proceed, to accomplish its overthrow ? 
What shall be the mode by which we shall cooperate, in order 
to achieve this great and sublime object ? Or is there no 
common bond of union to unite us together on the side of 
liberty ? Why, sir, the slaveholders of the South, divided as 
they are by sectarian and party lines, — divided, in these par- 
ticulars, just as we are at the North, — are not divided on the 
subject of slavery. They readily combine their means and 
influences for its preservation and perpetuity, making every 
other consideration subordinate. Now, is it not possible for 
the true friends of freedom to be as united in the defence and 
extension of her sacred cause, though differing in their reli- 
gious and political opinions ? I affirm that we can unite ; 
that we ought to unite ; nay, that the true in spirit are united, 
all over this country. 

But, surely, it is desirable to organize; it is better to work 



( 14 ) 

together than to work singly; for, by concentrating our forces 
we can operate all the more powerfully upon public opinion' 
But how shall we organize ? What should be the platform 
laid down, on which to invite every opponent of slaverv to 
stand : *^ 

_ In the first place, it ought not to be a religious organiza- 
tion, technically speaking— Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist 
or any other ; for that would be exclusive and sectarian. It 
would leave a vast multitude of the friends of freedom outside 
of it, for various reasons ; and, hence, there would be great 
loss of strength, and an unwise division of forces. 

Li the second place, it must not be, simply or mainly, a 
political organization ; for as only a small portion of the peo- 
ple are permitted to vote in this government— as one half of 
the population, on account of their sex, are politically dis- 
franchised — as many persons are conscientiously opposed to 
upholding a government of violence and blood— as many 
others are precluded from the ballot-box by their views of the 
pro-slavery compromises in the Constitution— a mere politi- 
cal organization must necessarily be exclusive, and therefore 
contracted in its sphere of activity and influence. 

Sir, we want something better than either the oi!e or the 
other— something more catholic, more philosophical, more 
comprehensive. Can we get it? What ought to be its 
leading characteristic ? What should be the condition and 
test of mem])ership ? I add — 

In the third place, the organization must not exclude 
women either from membership or from active participation 
in its affairs ; because women abhor, and have reason to 
abhor, slavery as intensely as men; and because as many 
women are clanking their chains, and crying for relief as men. 
Every member must be permitted to "plead the cause of all 
such as are a})pointed to destruction," on his or her own re- 
sponsibility, as a sense of duty may determine. 

Lastly, the object of the organization must be moral 
AGITATION— the promulgation of the truth, and its application 
to the consciences of a people who are " laden with iniquity," 
and " whose hands are full of blood." It is a moral regen- 
eration which is to be effected, as much now as in apostolic 
times, and by the same instrumentality — the foolishness of 
preaching. 

It is evident, moreover, that such an organization should 
be based upon a self-evident truth, and animated by a vital 



(15) 

pRixciPLE, appealing alike to the understanding' and conscience 
of every human being, without regard to religious or political 
opinions. That truth is, that slaveholding is, under all cir- 
cumstances, a sin against God ; and, therefore, that imme- 
diate emancipation is the right of the slave and the duty of 
the master. What is self-evident is all-embracing, and may 
be held in common by men and women ; by Christians and 
Infidels; by those who belong to religious bodies, and by 
those who do not; by those who exercise the elective fran- 
chise, and by those who are disfranchised for conscience sake. 
We can all give our hearty endorsement to the principle, — 
requiring nothing beyond this, that each one shall a.pijly and 
carry it ont^ with conscientious fidelity^ at ivJiatever cost, and 
wherever it may lead, according to the liyhi that is in him. 

Well, what next ? The platform of the organization must 
be free to all, and sj^eech upon it left untrammelled. There 
must be a willingness to hear not only those who are friendly 
to its object, but also those who are hostile to it ; for the truth 
has nothing to fear in an open encounter with error, and 
ever courts inquiry and examination — ever coming out the 
better and stronger for it. 

Now, sir, this is the spirit, the freedom, the platform of 
the American Anti-Slavery Society. That Society is willing 
to hear, at its own pecuniary expense, in its own meetings, 
whatever may be said against its principles or measures, in 
whatever temper or language. If it has any favours to grant, 
they are granted especially to those who are disposed to assail 
it — giving them (in the greatness of its magnanimity) not 
only an equal chance, but more than justice requires, if de- 
sired. This is the secret of its freshness and power. If ever 
the time shall come when this lofty trait in its character shall 
be blotted out, then you may write " Ichabod" upon its walls, 
and proclaim its downfall. 

Sir, we resort to no disciplinary measures. We put forth 
no bulls of excommunication. We neither exclude nor sus- 
pend any member, on any ground whatever. Every one is as 
free to go as he is free to come, incurring no censure for his 
withdrawal. As a condition of membership in the Society, 
we are agreed simply as to the ' abstract principle ; we are 
agreed, also, that it is the duty of each and all to adhere to 
it, as its legitimate application maybe perceived, "remember- 
ing them that are in bonds as bound with them." Whenever any 
thing is found hostile to its progress, then whoever makes the 



(16) 

discovery is bound to cry out against the obstacle, and 
attempt its removal. If, iu the course of the conflict, he shall 
find himself called upon to cut off his right hand or pluck out 
his right eye, there must be no hesitancy — the hand must come 
off, the eye must come out. 

Sir, we are sometimes accused of being narrow and exclu- 
sive, in our organization — of imposing tests and requiring 
conditions, which interfere with individual conviction and 
personal freedom. No accusation can be more unjust, no 
opinion more erroneous. Do we say that the members of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society must agree in proclaiming 
the Constitution of the United States to be "a covenant with 
death, and an agreement with hell ?" Do we say that none 
shall be members who vote for such men as Franklin Pierce 
or Winfield Scott ? Do we say that they shall be excommu- 
nicated, if they remain with the Whig, or Democratic, or Free 
Soil party — or with a pro-slavery church or denomination, or 
support a pro-slavery clergy ? We say no such thing; we 
make no such requirement ; we let every man stand account- 
able to his God. 

But there is one thing we do, and mean to persist in doing: 
we keep our platform open to all, and free to all, without re- 
spect of persons. We utter our convictions fearlessly and 
independently as to who and what is pro-slavery, and allow 
nothing in Church or State to pass unchallenged respecting 
its position to the anti-slavery cause ; we mean to criticise, 
reprove and warn, and are ready to be criticised, reproved 
and warned in turn. 

Of course, the American Anti-Slavery Society is as much 
bound to make a faithful application of its distinctive princi- 
ples as each individual member. To be effective in its opera- 
tions, it must cherish and promulgate definite opinions — the 
collective opinions of its members, as expressed ])y a majority 
on any given point, for the time being. True, it may some- 
times err in judgment; it may not always come to a right 
decision ; still, as it ever holds itself open to reproof and con- 
viction, as it gives the minority every desirable opportunity to 
expose its fallacies or errors, this affords no good reason for 
refusing to cooperate with it, unless it palpably discards its 
fundamental principle. All that can be done, among fallible 
human beings, under the circumstances, to arrive at a true 
result, is assuredly done; and where this spirit prevails, in 
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, rely upon it, that result 



(17) 

will be satisfactory — such as duty demands. Welcoming the 
light from whatever quarter it may shine, how is it possible 
for the Society to evince a stronger conviction of the rectitude 
of its course, — or, if in error, a more manly desire to be set 
right,— or a more unselfish consecration to the cause of the 
enslaved in our land ? 

No step has the American Anti-Slavery Society ever taken 
backwards. Not that it is conceited, dogmatical, unwilhng 
to yield when in error; but because there has been no occa- 
sion for retracting or going back. We have abandoned many 
of our steps, but it is the abandonment of conquered outposts 
in our onward march to grapple all the more vigorously with 
the enemy in the citadel of his strength. We do not stand 
precisely where we did twenty years ago, or even ten years 
ago; we are all the while finding new issues and making fresh 
advances; and all this is essential to the abolition of slavery. 
Now, then, if we do not dictate to any man to what party 
he shall belong, to what creed he shall subscribe, to what 
church he shall give in his adhesion, or from which he must 
withdraw, or what he shall think or say of the Constitution 
or government of the country— if we allow him free speech, 
and he ■profesHes to agree with us in jyrinciple, and in the duty 
of adhering to it under all circumstances — what excuse has 
he for absenting himself from this platform ? How can he 
justify himself in lifting his heel against us ? Why should he 
run away? Here is the place to maintain his position. 
What if the Society deem him to be unsound in some of his 
views, or pro-slavery in some of his relations to Church or 
State ? He believes his position to be a tenable one. Then, 
as a conscientious and sincere friend of the slave, he will be 
serene and unmoved, instead of getting angry and furious. 
Instead of impeaching the motives or spirit" of the Society, 
he will say, " You give me all I ask— all that any man, who 
has a soul, can desire — the opportunity to state my convic- 
tions freely, and to defend my conduct, and that is enough! 
Believing that I am right, I have full faith that, ultimately, 
I shall have the satisfaction of seeing the Society espouse my 
side of the question." 

And yet, Mr. President, what secessions have taken place 
from our ranks, from time to time ! All the way through, 
following all along the track of our march, are to be found 
the carcasses of multitudes who have perished by the way. 
•They ran well for a time, and then they fell to the earth, 



(18) 

and perished. Others, growing hateful and personal in their 
spirit, placing their sectarianism above and beyond the anti- 
slavery cause itself, have become embittered against the 
Society, and sought to destroy it; and evidently far more 
anxious to cripple the etibrts and blacken the character of 
the uncompromising Abolitionists, than to bring slavery into 
disrepute. 

Again I ask, what is it that we exact ? Not conformity 
in judgment or practice as to the appUcatioji of the principle 
to which we subscribe, in order to membership in the Society, 
but only as to the 2^^'^ficiple itself- — an endorsement of its 
soundness and paramount importance. We make due allow- 
ance for the fact, that mankind make progress, if sometimes 
rapidly, more commonly by a slow process. We know, in the 
nature of the case, that all men do not leap to the same con- 
clusion, logically, or by intuition, at the same moment. We 
know that, among those who are equally honest, there may be 
justifiable hesitancy on the part of some, and honest doubt on 
the part of others, as to where the principle fairly applies. 
We admit that there will be cases where men the most clear- 
sighted may, for a time, be somewhat troubled to decide 
whether this or that step is really a compromise of principle. 
But then, sir, all these things must be tolerated, if we would 
work together for the overthrow of slavery. Ultimately, we 
may all see eye to eye. 

Sir, if a member of our organization can belong to the 
Whig or Democratic party, and feel that he occupies a true 
anti-slavery position in so doing, let him remain with the party. 
To his own conscience let him be true. To his own master he 
must stand or fall. What we shall do is, when he comes upon 
our platform, to endeavour to show that his ipsition is incon- 
sistent with the principle he has accepted, and is practically 
pro-slavery. As Lot was commanded to flee out of Sodom, 
that he might not be destroyed with its inhabitants; as God 
says to his people in Babylon, " Come out of her, that ye be 
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues ;" so we think anti-slavery demands the abandonment 
of every pro-slavery sect and party. Still, if any one does 
not feci called upon to leave his party, or church, or the gov- 
ernment, he is at liberty to remain in it, and he will manifest 
his sincerity by exhibiting a manly front, and evincing his 
readiness to be examined as to his conduct. He will endeavour 
to show that he is actuated by the highest regard for the 



(19) 

cause of those in bondage, and that in the position he occu- 
pies, he sincerely believes ho can do better service to that 
cause than in any other way. 

ISow, sir, can you conceive of any thing njore charitable 
than this — more magnanimous than this — more sublimely 
courageous than this — a higher evidence of a desire to be in 
the right, and a wish never to be in the wrong, on the part 
of our association ? Where is there such liberty conceded on 
any other platform, religious or political ? What other enter- 
prise — except the little, despised Non-Resistance enterprise — 
has ever been so constituted, or so indulgent on the score of^ 
freedom of speech to all ? The Free Soil platform is not free;* 
the Free Soil meeting is not free — (I say it not invidiously, 
of course — I only deal with the fact.) It is exclusively for 
Free Soilers ; it does not say, " We welcome every man to 
this platform, to show us wherein we are in the wrong." No; 
what is the reason ? I have my own opinion about it — what 
do you think ? 

"Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just." 

There are those in our ranks who deem the position of the 
Free Soil party not the highest and best for the cause of the 
slave. Thef/ might come on to the platform — and if it were 
a free one, they certainly would come — and there would be a 
searching examination. Is it to prevent such an examination 
that their meetings are not as free as our own ? Why, sir, if 
at any of their gatherings they can get a Webster Whig, or 
a Hunker Democrat, to undertake the defence of his party, 
or to make an assault upon theirs, there is great rejoicing, 
and they are cpite ready to shout, " To the platform — to the 
platform! Hear him — hear him!" Why is this ? Because, 
as against the Webster Whig or the Hunker Democrat, the 
Free Soilers know that they occupy the vantage ground, and 
can cover him with confusion of face. But with regard to 
the radical, uncompromising Abolitionists, their presence is not 
welcomed, and they are not invited to occupy the platform. 

Wm. a. White, of Watertown — Does Mr. Garrison mean 
this Convention to understand, that the meetings of the Free 
Soilers are not open to all who claim to be the friends of the 
slave, or whether they do or not ? 

Mr. Garrison — I will answer that question by asking 
another — which is the Yankee method, you know. Does our 



(20) 

friend White mean to say that the Free Soil meetings are 
thus free ? 

Mr. White— I do ; and I hereby invite Mr. Garhison to 
attend the next Free Soil Convention, and make a speech. 
(Laughter and applause.) 

Mr. Garrison — Yery good! But is our friend authorized, 
in behalf of the party, to make the invitation ? 

Mr. White— No, sir ; I make it on my individual respon- 
sibility. 

* Mr. Garrison — I doubt if such an invitation would receive 
the sanction of the party, as such. At any rate, it has never 
yet been proclaimed to the world. But I am not the man to 
quarrel with that spirit, but will ever give it the right hand 
of fellowship. 

Mr. President, adopting the fundamental principle of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, what have we done with it in 
our organization ? In a faithful application of it to men and 
measures— to the religious and political institutions of the 
land— to constitutions and laws— we have made many dis- 
coveries—discoveries that have filled us, sometimes with 
amazement, sometimes with deep regret, sometimes with 
heartfelt anguish ; because we started, at the outset, mixed 
up with the old parties and with the religious sects, ardent in 
our attachment and earnest in our support of them. We did 
not know where we were going ; we could not tell what was 
before us ; for who foresaw, when he gave in his adhesion to 
the cause of the oppressed, that he would be called upon to 
o-ive u]) his party, his church, his minister— to lose his reputa- 
tion and jeopard his worldly interest— to the extent he has 
been required to do ? But we took the pledge of fidelity to 
the slave. We declared his cause to be good and true— yes, 
divine • and hence, whatever obstructed its triumph, must be 
from the adversary, and not from God. At what hazard and 
cost all this has been done, let posterity decide. ^ 

On many points, slowly but surely, we have arrived at 
ffreat unanimity of sentiment. We are generally agreed in 
the opinion, that the Whig party of the country is foully pro- 
slavery and therefore ought to be abandoned. We are equally 
convinced, that the Democratic party is utterly subservient 
to the Slave Power, and thoroughly polluted, from which it 
is the duty of every pure-minded man and every true Democrat 



(21) 

to withdraw. We also affirm that a Church, claiming to be 
the Church of Christ, and yet having no bowels of mercy for 
the oppressed, nay, receiving slaveholders and slave-breeders 
to its communion-table, is a Church with which no Christian 
abolitionist ought to be connected ; and that, if there be one 
thus associated with it, he is bound, by his fidelity to God and 
the slave, to vrithdraw from it, and register his testimony 
against it. as an anti-Christian body. 

To such conclusions, after careful examination and mature 
consideration, we have come, with but few dissenting voices 
in our ranks, but not without great hesitancy and reluctancy 
on the part of some, for a time. All did not see the duty 
at the same moment ; at first, perhaps, only a solitary mem- 
ber saw the guilt of the relation, raised the warning cry, and 
called for consistent action. Then another and another ap- 
prehended it clearly, and the discussion went on, until nearly 
the whole body became satisfied as to its reality, and pro- 
nounced sentence of condemnation accordingly. 

We come now to the question of withdrawal from the 
government, in consequence of the pro-slavery compromises 
of the Constitution. On this point, while the members of 
the American Anti-Slavery Society are now generally agreed, 
the professed friends of the slave, acting in other relations, 
are very much divided. They advocate various and discord- 
ant notions about the Constitution. Some say they hold it 
to be thoroughly and intentionally anti-slavery, and so they 
can vote and hold office under it without any compromise of 
principle ; others acknowledge its pro-slavery features, but 
argue that as it provides for its own amendment, the ballot 
may be innocently thrown with that object in view ; while 
others think that, if nothing more can be accomplished by 
the elective franchise than the election of men to Congress 
whawill exert themselves to abolish slavery in the District 
of Columbia and the Territories, and to prevent the further 
extension of slavery, it justifies political action. Here is a 
wide difference of opinion ; but what then ? What if we 
differ ad injlnitum as to the application of the principle by 
which we profess to be governed ? I want to know who the 
man is who is going to run away from the anti-slavery plat- 
form on that account ; and if he runs, I want to know what 
is the matter with him. He says that his own position is 
sound and practical ; that his conscience is satisfied ; that 
his judgment is confirmed, and he has not a doubt troubling 



(22) 

his mind. What cause has such a man to run from any body? 
Is not he who is in the right the " one man who shall chase 
a thousand," and one of the "two who shall put ten thousand 
to flight ?" But if he be not in the right, even then he will 
manifest no disposition to flee, if he sincerely believes he is 
right, or desires to be so, if in error. The language of his 
heart will be, " Search me as with a candle, and see if there 
be anything wrong in me." Being fallible, he may honestly 
mistake his way or misapprehend his duty, but he is not the 
man to keep from a free arena because somebody will impeach 
his judgment or censure his conduct — far otherwise ! Who 
that is really satisfied that he ought to remain connected 
with the Whig or Democratic party, pro-slavery though it 
be, — with the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, or any other 
Church, pro-slavery though it be, — who, I say, that believes 
it his duty to do this, as a friend of the slave, has any just 
cause to complain of the liberty exorcised on this platform, 
or to stand aloof from our meetings ? Hence, the resolutions 
I have submitted, Mr, President, seem to me to warrant the 
conclusion, that he who refuses to take his lot with us, who 
walks no more with us, or who seeks to excite popular odium 
against us, gives conclusive evidence that he knows " there is 
somethin'g rotten in the state of Denmark," and that that 
state is inside of himself. (Laughter and cheers.) He fur- 
nishes ample proof of the fact, that he is not able to endure 
free discussion, and consequently '* flees when no man pur- 
sueth." 

I told you that the American Anti-Slavery Society ex- 
communicates nobody, disciplines nobody ; but it does far 
better than that. It is not without a winnowing-machine, 
which separates the chaff from the wheat with wonderful 
discrimination. It has an instrument by which it detects the 
false, unmasks the hypocritical, exposes the compromising, 
almost as by an infallible power. It is free, untrammelled 

SPEECH, on a FREE, UNTRAMMELLED PLATFORM ! WhoCVCr 

cannot stand the trial is either a coward or a consciously 
corrupt man. (Loud cheers.) 

But the inquiry is frequently made, " Why criticise and 
arraign such men as Charles Sumner, Horace Mann, and 
John P. Hale ?" Why not criticise and arraign them, if 
they are at any time found wanting ? Who are they, to 
claim or to desire exemption from the strictest scrutiny ? 
Are they infallible ? Are they demi-gods ? If they stumble 



(23) 

in the dark, or we believe tliem to be stumbling, shall we 
raise no warning voice, acting as they do the part of political 
leaders ? Not criticise them ! — let them go, forsooth, be- 
cause they make good anti-slavery speeches now and then — 
help the fugitive slave now and then — and manfully resist 
the usurpations of the Slave Power ! Why, sir, do we not 
gratefully acknowleTlge all that they do for the slave, and 
give them full credit for it ? The anti-slavery speeches of 
Mann, of Sumner, of Hale, of Giddings, I have always 
gladly printed in the columns of The Liberator — (loud 
applause) — and I think I have not been chary in my tribute 
to those gentlemen for tlie anti-slavery work tliat they have 
done. For one, I must be beside myself, if I can quarrel 
with them for being faithful to our cause. But when, in my 
judgment, they fail to carry out their principles, or stand in 
a pro-slavery relation, what shall I do, as an honest man — as 
their friend, and as the advocate of the slave ? Shall I be 
dumb ? Shall I say, " Xo matter — they mean well ; they 
have said and done many very good things ; let them run ?" 
Why, nobody should let them run. I hold the slaveholder 
to the strictest account ; shall I not hold every other man ? 
Am I not so held by this nation ? To such an account God 
will hold us all. 

Do you recollect the case of the young man in the Gospel 
— the good young man — who had lived so exemplary a life, 
who came to Jesus, saying, " Good Master, what shall I do 
that I may inherit eternal life ? And Jesus said unto him. 
Why callest thou me good ? there is none good, but one, that 
is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit^ 
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness. 
Defraud not. Honour thy father and mother. And he answered 
and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my 
youth. Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto 
him, One thing thou lackest : go thy way, sell vrhatsoever 
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure 
in heaven ; and come, take up thy cross, and follow me. And 
he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved : for he 
had great possessions." So in regard to our Free Soil friends. 
Have they not made good anti-slavery speeches ? — what lack 
they yet ? Have they not contributed to the funds of the 
anti-slavery cause ? — wliat lack they yet ? Have they not 
assisted fugitive slaves to escape ? — what lack they yet ? One 
thing ; and that is, they are in a political union with bloody- 



(24) 

minded oppressors, and they ought to come out and separate 
themselves forever from it. (Loud applause.) But they turn 
away sorrowful, for they almost idolize the ballot-box. 

Sir, we are bound to watch over each other, and to ad- 
monish each other in love, and with all fidelity. But what if 
a man does not admonish me in love — does that justify me in 
getting angry ? What if, on this platform, I am unjustly 
censured by him ? Shall I leave it in a passion ? No, sir. 
It is for me to bear with him ; to bear with everybody ; to 
let patience have its perfect work ; and to be satisfied with 
the liberty granted to me to show that my accuser is in the 
wrong — if I am able. 

Such is the American Anti-Slavery Society. Honest 
Whigs, Democrats, Free Soilers, you can be members of it. 
Honest Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, 
Catholics, you need not stand aloof from it. You have equal 
rights here — free speech here — and the object is worthy of 
your united support — freedom for all, and chains for none ! 
The ground occupied by the Society is catholic, broad, com- 
prehensive ; yet stringent in that kind of criticism to which I 
have alluded, namely, free speech and free investigation. This 
is the only vital organization in our land to overturn slavery. 
The political one is narrow, and its action is spasmodic and 
limited. A sectarian organization can never meet the wants 
of the great heart of our common humanity. I therefore 
glory in the American Anti-Slavery Society, in the spirit 
which animates it, in the noble and unsurpassed example it is 
giving to the world of faith in the truth, in its willingness to 
•be searched, in its determination to make the liberation of the 
slave paramount to all other considerations. 

One word further. By membership with that Society, we 
endorse the views of no man on politics or religion, — no, not 
even the anti-slavery soundness of any member of the organ- 
ization. We acknowledge simply an abstract principle, 
adverse to the institution of slavery, and agree that we will 
be true to it, as light is given us. That is all. As to the 
hue and cry on this side of the Atlantic, and in England, that 
the American Anti-Slavery Society is a no-Bible,' no-Sabbath, 
no-Governmcnt Society, &c., &c., it has never come from a 
heart beating in deep sympathy for the perishiny slave. It is 
both a sectarian and a jiro-slavery device. _ As a Society, tve 
debate no other question, decide no other question, than that 
pertaining to slavery. As for the holiness of the Sabbath, 



(25) 

or the inspiration of the Bible, or the rightfulness of govern- 
ment, we neve?' have assumed to settle any of these things In 
discussing the subject of slavery, it is to be expected' that 
every man will speak in his own dialect, and after his own 
method of thniking ; and illustrate his ideas in his own way. 
He IS entitled to do this, and no one has a right to complain 
The Calvinist who occupies this platform wiU talk of slave- 
holders going down to a never-ending hell, if they do not 
repent ; and no Universalist has a right to take offence, and 
say—'' I do not believe that doctrine, and it shall not be 
uttered here— it is extraneous." Ko, it is not. It is proper 
for the Calvimst to assert it, because, with his moral training- 
with his conviction of the sin of slavery, it is the natural ex- 
pression of his idea. So the Universalist, standing on this 
platform, may affirm that he believes in the final restoration 
of all to God— even slaveholders n.ot excepted— if he chooses 
to do so, m illustration of an argument against slavery • and 
the Calvimst has no right to take offence, and say, " I will 
not hear such a declaration, nor be connected in any associa- 
tion with such men." So if a word is incidentally uttered 
here m regard to the Bible, or the Sabbath, or any other 
subject, that may be deemed heretical, remember it is the 
speaker who is to be held responsible, not the Society: nor is 
h^ to be blamed, if he evidently means to give no offence. 
VV hen the Society itself shall bring in any extraneous question 
and attempt to settle it, forgetting the slave, then denounce it 
as talse to its professions,— and not tUl then. (Cheers ) 



WHAT IS MEANT BY IMMEDIATE ABOLITIOx^^? 

It means in the first place, that all title of property in 
the slaves shall instantly cease, because their Creator has 
never relinquished his claim of ownership, and because none 
have a right to sell tht^ir own bodies or buy those of their 
own species as cattle. Is there anything terrific in this 
arrangement ? 

It means, secondly, that every husband shall have his own 
wite and every wife h.r own husband, both being united in 
wedlock according to its proper forms, and placed under the 
protection of law. Is this unreasonable ? 



(26) 

It means, thirdly, that parents shall have the control and 
government of their own children, and that the children shall 
belong to their parents. What is there sanguinary in this 

concession ? . ' , . i n i 

It means, fourthly, that all trade in human beings shall be 
regarded as felony, and entitled to the highest punishment. 
Can this be productive of evil ? , . , . l 

It means, fifthlv, that the tremendous power which is now \ 
vested in every slaVeholder to punish his slaves without trial, 
and to a savage extent, shall be at once taken away. Is this 

undesirable ? ,.,*'■ i -i -x 

It means, sixthly, that all those laws which now prohibit 
the instruction of the slaves shall instantly be repealed, and 
others enacted, providing schools and instruction for their 
intellectual illumination. Would this prove a calamity ? _ 

It means, seventhly, that the planters shall employ their 
slaves as free labourers, and pay them just wages. Would 
this recompense infuriate them ? ,. , . r. j 

It means, eighthly, that the slaves, instead of being torced 
to labour for the exclusive benefit of others by cruel drivers, 
and 'the application of the lash upon their bodies, shall be 
encouraged to toil for the mutual profit of themselves and 
their employers, by the infusion of new motives into their 
hearts, growing out of then* recognition and reward as men. 
Is this diabolical ? 

It means, finally, that right shall take the supremacy over 
wrono' principle over brute force, humanity over cruelty, 
honesty over theft, purity over lust, honour over baseness, 
love over hatred, and religion over heathenism. Is this 

wrong ? 

This is our meaning of Immediate Abohtion. 

Where is the individual who is base enough to avow that, 
on these terms, h« is hostile to the liberation of the slaves ? 
who dares to say, in a public and responsible manner,—" I 
am still for giving to the planters unlimited dominion oyer 
their slaves, that they may treat them like cattle, deprive 
them of instruction, mangle, starve and pollute their bodies, 
rob them of their earnings, and buy and sell them on specu- 
lation, as they do at present ?" Where is the mdividual 
animated with a soul, having parents, or relations, or children 
or friends, who would not exclaim, " I am for the rescue ot 
two millions of enslaved countrymen 1 To talk of the danger 
or injustice of giving them the protection of wise and equita- 



(27) 

ble laws, and relieving them of their heavy burdens, is an 
insult to my understanding. I contend for the sacredness of 
the marriage relations, which are now violated by oppression 
—for the restoration of stolen property to its rightful owners 
— for the enforcement of that clause in the Declaration of 
Independence which asserts ' that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- 
able rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness' — and for the instant recognition of every American 
born citizen, as a countryman and brother." — First Report 
of the N. Y. A. S. Societij. 



SAFETY OF IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. 

The first of August, 1834, is universally regarded in 
Antigua (W. I.) as having presented a most imposing and 
sublime moral spectacle. It is almost impossible to be in the 
company of a missionary, a planter, or an emancipated negro 
for ten minutes, without hearing some allusion to that occa- 
sion. Even at the time of our visit to Antigua, after the 
lapse of nearly three years, they spoke of the event with an 
admiration apparently unabated. 

For some time previous to the first of August, forebodings 
of disaster lowered over the island. The day was fixed 1 
Thirty thousand degraded human beings were to be brought 
forth from the dungeon of slavery and " turned loose on the 
community !" and this was to be done " in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye." 

Gloomy apprehensions were entertained by many of the 
planters. Some timorous families did not go to bed on the 
night of the 31st of July; fear drove sleep from their eyes, 
and they awaited with fluttering pulse the hour of midnight, 
fearing lest the same bell which sounded the jubilee of the- 
slaves should toll the death knell of the masters. 

The more intelligent, who understood the disposition of 
the negroes, and contemplated the natural tendencies of eman- 
cipation, through philosophical principles, and in the light of 
human nature and history, were free from alarm. 

To convey to the reader some idea of the manner in which 
the great crisis passed, we here give the substance of several 



(28) 

accounts which were related to us in different parts' of the 
island, by those who witnessed them. 

The Wesleyans kept "watch-night" in all their chapels on 
the night of the 31st of July. One of the Wesley an mission- 
aries gave us an account of the watch-meeting at the chapel 
in St. John's. The spacious house was filled with the candi- 
dates for liberty. All was animation and eagerness. A 
mighty chorus of voices swelled the song of expectation and 
joy, and, as they united in prayer, the voice of the leader 
was drowned in the universal acclamations of thanksgiving 
and praise, and blessing, and honour, and glory to God, who 
had come down for their deliverance. In such exercises the 
evening was spent until the hour of twelve approached. The 
missionary then proposed that when the clock on the cathe- 
dral shoiiid begin to strike, the whole congregation should 
fall upon their knees and receive the boon of freedom in 
silence. Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first note, 
the crowded assembly prostrated themselves on their knees. 
All was silence, save the quivering, half-stifled breath of the 
struggling spirit. The slow notes, of the clock fell upon the 
multitude; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolled over the pros- 
trate throng, in tones of angels' voices, thrilling among the 
desolate chords and weary heart-strings. Scarce had the 
clock sounded its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly 
around, and a loud peal of thunder roared along the sky — 
God's pillar of fire, and his trump of jubilee ! A moment 
of profoundest silence passed — then came the burst — they 
broke forth in prayer; they shouted, then sung, " Glory," 
" alleluia;" they clapped their hands, leaped up, fell down, 
clasped each other in their free arms, cried, laughed, and 
went to and fro, tossing upward their unfettered hands ; but 
high above the whole there was a mighty sound which ever 
and anon swelled up ; it was the utterings in broken negro 
dialect of gratitude to God. 

After this gush of excitement had spent itself, and the 
congregation became calm, the religious exercises were re- 
sumed, and the remainder of the night was occupied in 
singing and prayer, in reading the Bible, and in addresses 
from the missionaries, explaining the nature of the freedom 
just received, and exhorting the freed people to be industrious, 
steady, obedient to the laws, and to show themselves in all 
things worthy of the high boon which God had conferred 
upon them. 



(29) 

The first of August came ou Fridaj^ and a release was 
proclaimed from all work until the next Monday. The day 
was chiefly spent by the great mass of the negroes in the 
churches and chapels. Thither they flocked *' as clouds and 
as doves to their windows." The clergy and missionaries 
throughout the island were actively engaged seizing the 
opportunity in order to enlighten the people on all the duties 
and responsibilities of their new relation, and, above all, 
urging them to the attainment of that higher liberty with 
which Christ maketh his children free. In every quarter we 
were assured that the day was Hke a Sabbath. Work had 
ceased ; the hum of business was still, and noise and tumult 
were unheard on the streets. Tranquillity pervaded the 
towns and country. A Sabbath, indeed ! when the wicked 
ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest, and the 
slave was free from the master I The planters informed us 
that they went to the chapels where their own people were 
assembled, greeted them, shook hands with them, and ex- 
changed the most hearty good wishes. 

The churches and chapels were thronged all over the 
island. At Cedar Hall, a Moravian station, the crowd was 
so great, that the minister was obliged to remove the meet- 
ing from the chapel to a neighbouring grove. 

At Grace Hill, another Moravian station, the negroes 
went to the missionary on the day before the first of August, 
and begged that they might be allowed to have a meeting in 
the chapel at sunrise. It is the usual practice among the 
Moravians to hold but one sunrise meeting during the year, 
and that is on the morning of Easter ; but as the people be- 
sought very earnestly for this special favour on the Easter 
morning of their freedom, it was granted to them. 

Early in the morning they assembled at the chapel. For 
some time they sat in perfect silence. The missionary then 
proposed that they should kneel down and sing. The whole 
audience fell upon their knees, and sung a hymn commencing 
with the following verse : 

" Now let us praise the Lord, 
With body, soul, and spirit, 
Who doth such wondrous things 
Beyond our sense and merit." 

The singing was frequently interrupted with the tears and 
sobbings of the melted people, until finally it was wholly 



(80) 

arrested, and a tumult of emotion overwhelmed the congre- 
gation. 

The missionary who was present on the occasion said that 
the scene was indescribable. 

During the day repeated meetings were held. At eleven 
o'clock the people assembled in vast numbers. There were 
at least a thousand persons around the chapel who could not 
get in. , For once the house of God suffered violence, and the 
violent took it by force. After all the services of the day, 
the people went again to the missionaries in a body, and 
petitioned to have a meeting in the evening. 

At Grace Bay, the people, all dressed in white, assembled 
in a spacious court in front of the Moravian chapel. They 
formed a procession, and walked arm and arm into the chapel. 
Similar scenes occurred at all the chapels and at the churches 
also. We were told by the missionaries that the dress of the 
negroes on that occasion was uncommonly simple and modest. 
There was not the least disposition to gaiety. 

We were also informed by planters and missionaries in 
every part of the island that there was not a single dance 
known of, either day or night, nor so much as a fiddle played. 
There were no riotous assemblies, no drunken carousals. It 
was not in such channels that the excitement of the emanci- 
pated flowed. They were as far from dissipation and de- 
bauchery as they were from violence and carnage. Gratitude 
was the absorbing emotion. From the hill-tops and the 
valleys the cry of a disenthralled people went upward like 
the sound of many waters, " Glory to God, glory to God." 

The testimony of the planters corresponds fully with that 
of the missionaries. 

Said R. B. Eldridge, Esq., after speaking of the number 
emancipated, "Yet this vast body (30,000) glided out of 
slavery into freedom with the utmost tran(|uillity." 

Dr. Dauiell observed, that after so prodigious a revolution 
in tlie condition of the negroes, he expected that some irrc- 
s^ularitics would ensue; but he had been entirely disappointed. 
He also said that he anticipated some relaxation from labour 
during the week following emancipation.' But he found his 
hands in the field early on Monday morning, and not one 
missing. The same day he received word from another estate, 
of which he was proprietor, that the negroes had to a man 
refused to go to the field. He immediately rode to the estate, 
and found the people standing with their hoes in their hands 



(81) 

doing nothing. He accosted them in a friendly manner : 
" What does this mean, my fellows, that you are not at work 
this morning ?" They immediately replied : " It's not be- 
cause we don't want to work, massa, but we wanted to see 
you first and foremost to knoiu what the bargain would heP 
As soon as that matter was settled, the whole body of negroes 
turned out cheerfully, without a moment's cavil. 

Mr. Bourne, of Millar's, informed us that the largest gang 
he had ever seen in the field on his property, turned out the 
iveek after emanci'pation. 

Said Hon. N. Nugent : '' Nothing could surpass the uni- 
versal propriety of the negroes' conduct on the first of August, 
1834! Never was there a more beautiful and interesting 
spectacle exhibited than on that occasion." 



THE FINAL TRIUMPH. 



Public opinion cannot be walled in. The people of the 
South cannot shut it out from their borders. It knows no 
barriers— is not arrested by geographical boundaries — is not 
hemmed in by state lines or imprisoned by state legislation. 
It is a moral atmosphere which spreads itself noiselessly 
throughout the domains of intellect and intelligence. Like 
electricity, it mingles itself with all the elements of the moral 
world and imperceptibly becomes a part of the mental consti- 
tution. Neither its progress or its power can be stayed. Its 
course is onward and its conquests are unceasing. It will 
infuse itself into the Ijosoms of our Southern brethren and 
disentomb the buried spirit of liberty there. It will awaken 
again in them those generous syuipathies, those noble pur- 
poses and those elevated sentiments which they once so glori- 
ously exhibited, and which have no fellowship with slavery. 
Their pulses will yet beat in unison with those of their 
Northern brethren on this subject. The pleadings for the 
oppressed, which stir New England hearts, will yet find a 
response in Carolinian bosoms ; and the shout for Emancipa- 
tion which shall go up from Bunker's Hill, will be echoed 
from the field of Guilford, and the heights of Yorktown. 
The day that shall witness the triumph of public opinion 



(32) 

over slavery is fast approaching. From the eminence on 
which I now stand, I see in the far-off distance the great 
prison-house of death. Its gloomy walls, built up on human 
hearts and cemented by human tears and blood, tower up into 
the skies with an heaven-insulting glory. Its impious spires 
and unhallowed domes, burnished with the gold wrung from 
the sweat and toil of the defenceless, flash defyingly in the sun. 
It seems to mock the power of the earthquake and the storm. 
But while I gaze, I see the heaving of the ocean of public 
opinion beneath my feet. The great fountains of its deep 
are breaking up. I hear the moan of the coming tempest as 
it musters its storms afar off ; and the skies gather blackness 
above my head. The billows go sweeping on in majesty and 
might. The surge beats upon the base of that proud edifice. 
The indignant tempest goes careering over the face of the 
moved waters. The roar of the roused ocean comes thunder- 
ing upon the ear. The waves, crested with fury, beat with 
resistless energy upon its massive structures. The waters and 
the storm are up in their wrath, and speak now with an 
"earthquake voice." I see that Bastile of human hearts 
tremble from its very base. Its walls are shaking in the ele- 
mental war. Behold its towers and turrets nod and topple to 
their fall. See ! its foundations give way — it reels, it sinks, 
it plunges, is gone, and the waters pass over it and hide it for 
ever ! The spirit of peace and love broods over the tempest, 
and it is hushed. The ocean sinks into unruffled calmness, 
and the fury of the storm is stilled. And hark ! strains of the 
sweetest harmony break upon the ear. A chorus of millions of 
voices comes swelling upon the calm, still air, hymning praises 
and thanksgivings. It is the music of redeemed hearts and dis- 
enthralled spirits. Oh 1 the sublimity of the song of the free ! 
How its strains are caught from lip to lip, from tlie valley to 
the hill-top, from mountain to mountain, until the whole land 
is wrapped in its melody, and the skies reverberate with the 
pealing anthem. — E. D. Barber. 



(33) 



THE INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY. 

* * * * It taints the whole country. — The existence, the 
perpetual presence of a great, prosperous, unrestrained sj^stem 
of wrong in a community, is one of the sorest trials to the 
moral sense of the people, and needs to be earnestly withstood. 
The idea of justice becomes unconsciously obscured in our 
minds. Our hearts become more or less seared to wrong. 
The South says, that slavery is nothing to us at the North. 
But through our trade we are brought into constant contact 
with it ; we grow familiar with it ; still more, we thrive by 
it ; and the next step is easy, to consent to the sacrifice of 
human beings by whom we prosper. The dead know not 
their want of hfe, and so a people, whose moral sentiments 
are palsied by the interweaving of all their interests with a 
system of oppression, become degraded without suspecting it. 
In consequence of this connection with slave countries, the 
idea of human rights, that great idea of our age, and on 
which we profess to build our institutions, is darkened, weak- 
ened among us, so as to be to many little more than a sound. 
A country of licensed, legalized wrongs, is not the atmosphere 
in which the sentiment of reverence for these rights can exist 
in full power. In such a community, there may be a respect 
for the arbitrary rights, which law creates and may destroy, 
and a respect for historical rights, which rest on usage. But 
the fundamental rights which inhere in man, as man, and 
which lie at the foundation of a just, equitable, beneficent, 
noble polity, must be imperfectly comprehended. This de- 
pression of moral sentiment in a people is an evil, the extent 
of which is not easily apprehended. It affects and degrades 
every relation of life. Men, in whose sight human nature is 
stripped of all its rights and dignity, cannot love or honour 
any who possess it, as they ought. In offering these remarks 
I do not forget what I rejoice to know, that there is much 
moral feeling among us in regard to slavery. But still there 
is a strong tendency to indifference, and to something worse ; 
and on this account we owe it to our own moral health, and 
to the moral life of society, to express plainly and strongly 
our moral abhorrence of this institution. — Channing on 
Emancipation. 



(34) 



A SABBATH SCENE. 



BY J. G. WHITTIER. 



Scarce had the solemn sabbath bell ceased quivering in the steeple, 
Scarce had the parson to his desk walked stately through his people, 

When down the summer-shaded street a wasted female figure, 
With dusky brow and naked feet, came rushing wild and eager. 

She saw the white spire through the trees, she heard the sweet hymn swelling; 
O, pitying Christ ! a refuge give that poor one in thy dwelling. 

Like a scared fawn before the hounds, right up the aisle she glided, 
While close behind her, whip in hand, a lank-haired hunter strided. 

She raised a keen and bitter cry, to Heaven and Earth appealing ; 
Were manhood's generous pulses deadi had woman's heart no feeling? 

A score of stout hands rose between the hunter and the flying ; 
Age clenched his staff, and maiden eyes flashed tearful, yet defying. 

" Who dares profane this house and day ?" cried out the angry pastor ; 
" Why, bless your soul, the wench's a slave, and I'm her lord and master 1 

"I've law and gospel on my side, and who shall dare refuse me ?" 
Down came the parson, bowing low, " My good dear siV, pray excuse me ! 

" Of course I know your right divine to own and work and whip her ; 
Quick, Deacon, throw that Polyglot before the wench, and trip her !" 

Plump dropped the holy tome, and o'er its sacred pages stumbling, 
Bound hand and foot, a slave.once more the hopeless wretch lay trembling. 

I saw the parson tie the knots, the while his flock addressing. 
The scrij>tviral claims of slavery, with text on text impressing. 

" Although," said he, "on sabbath day, all secular occupations 
Are deadly sins, we must fulfil our moral obligations : 

" And this commends itself as one to every conscience tender ; 
As Paul sent back Onesimus, my Christian friends, we send her !" 

Shriek rose on shriek ; the Sabbath air her wild cries tore asunder ; 

I listened, with hushed breath, to hear God answering with his thunder ! 



r. 



(85) 

All still '—the very altar-cloth had smothered down her shrieking, 
And, dumb she turned from face to face, for human pity seeking I 

I saw her dragged along the aisle, her shackles harshly clanking ; 
I heard the parson, over all, the Lord devoutly thanking 1 

My brain tookfire: "Is this," I cried, "the end of prayer and preaching? 
Then down with pulpit, down with priest, and give us Nature's teachmg I 

" Foul shame and acorn be on ye all, who turn the good to evil, 
And steal the Bible from the Lord, to give it to the devil I 

" Than garbled text, or parchment law, I own a statute higher, 
And God is true, though every book and every man's a liar I" 

Just then I felt the deacon's hand my coat-tail seize on 

I heard the priest cry " Infidel !" the lawyer mutter " Treason !" 

I started up : where now were church, slave, master, priest, and people? 
I only heard the supper-bell, instead of clanging steeple. 

I woke, and lo ! the fitting cause of aU my dream's vagaries- 
Two bulky pamphlets, Webster's text, with Stuart's commentaiies I 

But on the open window sill, o'er which the white blooms drifted, 
The pages of a good old Book the wind of summer lifted. 

And flower and vine, like angel wings around the Holy Mother, 
Waved softly there, as if God's Truth and Mercy kissed each other. 

And, freely, from the cherry bough above the casement swingmg, 
With golden bosom to the sun, the oriole was singing. 

As bird and flower made plain of old the lessons, of the Teacher, 
So now I heard the written Word interpreted by Nature : 

For, to my ear, methought the breeze bore Freedom's blessed word on ; 
Thus saith the Lord : Bbeak every tore, undo the heavy burden ! 



<J O N S T I T U IM N 

OF THE 

NEW YORK ANTI^SLATKRV SOCIETY. 

ris,l t of the sNivo and the iliitv of tlie m.Si. . I u™,"''""" Emancipation i.-. the 
an.l rt:^,,"^ the system demSs thrcom^S,! Sl,''.''"?'!"^'. "'"'■™™'-. "■« he 
Sif„. , °',"' "i'l'Dut resaril to sect, narU- or ^ T^ff,. "' "'«."-i<-i«ls of Humanity 

f/ 7".'' ^r'^^'P^^^Phl^ts andTew^wA bv nn'n'-'^'' ^^^ ™"'^"« «*" Anti-Slavery 

prcan,bleii;aybecomia^meTnW7of%S"|wt^h"'? Principles set forth in the 
requesting the Kecording Secretary verba v'" "■^"'"" "'^ ««n«titntion, or by 
S-t-^ not in session, to appen/l,i;^£^;-PS --|- j;; -jUng, j^^l^ 

dentTa'?o;rI;^.';;i:„t"r,«^^^^^^ a President; two Yice-Presl- 

ExecutiveComn,ittee,?„n i?tinc;^of the^ra^^^^^^^ a Treasurer; and an 

annually by the Society. These officers sLnLf!'' "^her members; to be chosen 
their respective positions. VacaS occurrint1*^r«" '^%'i""'^^ usually incident to 
by tlie Executive Committee. ^"""-^ occurring in any of the offices may be filled 

execiUe'ri^nl^TAn^'JLv^r/'k'f^^ to devise and 

ynle lor the collection of funds; to SlTmeeMn"^ iV^?^*'^"'^^^^ t" P'-o- 

Avhenever and wherever thev may deem b^-st- .t. f '^ ^'r'"^^-^'' «'" «^ ^he public, 
necessary and right t„ extend a knmvleXrri \n q" ''^ ^vhatever they ma/think 
t^ie public opinion from which SirvSvdrLvi;/^"^'"'^'^'^^^^ ^"^^ to'corroct 
meetings for business and consultation^ind fiV. 5 h^^- ^^'^^' '''^'" '^^'^l Sequent 
qnorum. They shall keep a rec rd if th'eir do r?.f h "" ""l'""^"' '^'''^" constitute a 
to the Sooiety at its annuiil meeting. ^ ' '^"'^ ""^^^ ^ ^^P^i-t of the same 

ExecuScJui-ri^Ttee ^"appS'i^henlL^offl''^ "S'!^,*''^ .*''"^ «"'^ P^'-^^e as the 
year shall be chosen. sS^mee^n^" shal h "'n^V '" ^^"^'"^^^^^ 
Committee , or, by the sLord ng Secretarv at tf.lf''^ ^^ '''*^*^ "^ ^^"^ Executiv! 
bers of the Society. ° oecieiary, at the request in writing of five mem- 

the m?n7b';';-s^"aU Jn^l\an?rafanV"a.m ^^ " ^«t« «f two-thirds of 

of the Society shall not brchLSl uZss^nH^.^' vP'-f'^'V^^'' ^'^^^ 'he auxiliaryship 
shall have been given, in writfc to the Evp.iM^^^ ^^ ""^^^ '"^^' ^'''''"g« 

previous to such meeting. '" J^^ecutive Committee as least one mouth 



President. 
LAUREN WETMORE. 



William A. Hall, Dr. Oliver n. Wellington. 

Correspond itig Secretary. 

Oliver JonxsoN. 

Recording Secretary. 

Henrietta \V. JoaNSON,M. D, 

Trenfuirer. 

Rowland Jouxsox. 

T . „ TTT Ji!^ecuti/oe Comnuttee. 

W,!?f ur^'^llfr?;' Henrietta W. Jonxsox, 

J. Mortimer Hall, c. B^Le BuJ.ov ' 



54 W 




%^^- : 






















e 














%* ' • • • ^V> ^^ 







► „ 6 ' -O '^^ 


















